Two temperature refrigerator



Aug. 1951 R. E. TOBEY 2,563,975

'rwo TEMPERATURE REFRIGERATOR Filed Sept. 24, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet l WW WITNESSES: INVENTOR FIG 2 RAYMOND 15. 7055) QIHJLJ V i g! ATTORNEY 19 51 R. E. TOBEY 2,563,975 7 TWO TEMPERATURE REFRIGERATOR Filed Sept. 24, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 J 48 FIG.4.

WITN s s; 1 INVENTOR RAYMOND E. TOBEY 6.14 W M ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 14, 1951 v 2,503,975 'rwo TEMPERATURE REFRIGERATOR Raymond E. Tobey, Springfield, Masa, assignmto Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application September 24, 1948, Serial No. 51,050

7 Claims. (01. 62-6) 1 This invention relates to refrigerating apparatus and. more especially, to means for augmenting the convectional flow of air within the refrigerator.

In refrigerators having a single cooling unit compartment at the proper temperature.

air flowing through this duct.

cooling unit of the refrigerator.

of this application, in which:

portion of which is of conventional design;

of Fig. 3;

line III-III of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 3. 'n

frigerator.

outer shell I0.

closed by a door IS.

liner I2.

vide enlarged air circulating ducts around the cooling unit I8. A shield 22 closes the spaces between the outer shell I and the inner liner I2 and also between the inner liner I2 and the front Each of 5 edges of the cooling unit I8 at the upper porfor maintaining a large frozen food storage comtion of the entrance opening of the cabinet. A pertinent at about 0 F. and also a large general door 24 for the cooling unit I8 is hinged by means food storage compartment at about 40 F., probof hinge pins 26 and hinge brackets 28 to the lems arise in holding the general food storage lower edge of the cooling unit I8 and a rubber l0 gasket 30 is located on the shield 22 to contact It, accordingly, is an object of this invention the door 24. Thermal breaker strips 25 close the to provide an air circulating duct for actively spaces between the outer shell I0 and the liner cooling the general food storage compartment I2 below the area of the shield 22. and control means for regulating the quantity of A balile plate 32 is located approximately midway in the space between each of the side walls It is a further object of the invention to inof the cooling unit I8 and each of the side walls crease the convectional circulation of air between of the cabinet adjacent thereto. Each of these the general food storage compartment and the bafile plates 32 is secured to the rear wall of the inner liner I2 by means of a flange 34 and at- These and other objects .are effected by the tachment screws 36. The front portion of each invention as will be apparent from the followof the battle plates 32 is secured to the inner liner ing description and claims taken in connection I2 by means of brackets (not shown). The upper with the accompanying drawings, forming a part edge of each of the baille plates 32 is spaced from the upper wall of the inner liner I2, and the Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of the upper por- 15 lower edge of each of these baffle plates 32 extion of a domestic refrigerator cabinet, the lower tends to below the cooling unit I8 and carries an extruded strip 38 of semi-rigid rubber. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the refrigthe strips 38 has a lateral flange 40 which superator portion of Fig. 1 taken on the line 11-11 ports one edge of a defrost pan 42 and another lateral flange 44 which supports one edge of a Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view of the resheet of glass 46. The defrost pan 42 and the frigerator portion of Fig; 1 and is taken on the glass 46 form a partition of limited heat conductivity in the refrigerator cabinetand are Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the reclaimed and described in the pate t pp irigerator portion taken on the line IV-IV of Serial No. 785,476, filed November 12, 1947, by O. Yoxsimer, now Patent No. 2,473,322, issued Referring to the drawings for a description of June 14, 1949. the invention, the reference numeral I0 desig- The front edge of the tray 42 carries an ornanates the outer metal shell of a domestic remental strip 48 which also serves as a handle for An inner metal liner I2 is disposed removing the tray. A bafile 501s secured to the within the outer shell I0, and thermal insulafront flange of the pan 42 and extends upwardtion I4 is packed between the liner I2 and the ly and rearwardly to within a short dis- The front of the refrigerator tance of a second flange 5| extending downcabinet provides an access opening which is wardly on the shield 22. The rear edge of the pan 42 is spaced from the rear wall of the inner A rectangular cooling unit I8 is secured by liner I2 to provide an air circulating opening. supports (not shown) in the upper portion of the A temperature-sensitive bulb 55 of a thermostat refrigerator cabinet and the front, top, side, (not shown) is located on the rear wall of the bottom, and rear walls of the cooling unit I8 are cooling unit I8. The thermostat controls the respaced from the corresponding walls of the inner 50 frigerating apparatus (not shown) to hold the The cooling unit I8 has refrigerant temperature of the cooling unit I8 between prepassages 29 in the top, the bottom, the rear, and determined limits. The two bafile plates 32 toin each of the side walls thereof. The inner liner gether with the pan 42 form a U-shaped baflle I2 is bumped .out adjacent the top, the rear and which encloses the bottom and most of the side walls of the cooling unit I3.

the two side walls of the cooling'unit l8 to proascae'rs The flow of air through the cabinet and around the cooling unit 18 is upwardly in the air duct formed by each of the baiile plates 32 and the adjacent side wall of the refrigerator cabinet. The air thereupon flows through the space above the baffle plate 32 and then travels over the top, rear, bottom and the two side walls of the cooling unit IS. The chilled air thereafter flows downwardly by gravity in the duct between the rear edge of the pan 4! and the rear wall of the cabinet.

The function of the bameplates 32 is to augment the flow of air over the cooling unit It by providing separate channels for the relatively warm air which tends to flow upwardly and the relatively cold air which tends to flow downwardly from the cooling unit I U. The bame plates 82 also carry the relatively warm air of the cabinet upwardly to the upper portion of the cooling unit I! before permitting contact of the air with the cooling unit so that the circulation is more active. Q

A damper I8 is located in the space between the rear edge of the pan 2 and the rear wall of the cabinet to regulate the fiow of air between the cooling unit I! and the lower portion of the refrigerator cabinet and thereby control the temperature of the lower portion of the cabinet. The damper 58 is actuated by a metal bellows 58 which connects through a tube 60 with a bulb ii! located on the exterior wall of the cabinet. The bulb 62 is filled with a volatile liquid so that the damper 56 responds to the pressure of this volatile fluid which, in turn, responds to the ambient temperture of the refrigerator cabinet. The bellows 58 opens the damper It farther when the ambient temperature of the refrigerator rises so that more air descends from the cooling unit iii to the general refrigerator storage compartment of the cabinet to offset the increased heat l akage through the walls of the cabinet. The damper I and its control is more fully described and claimed in the patent application Serial No. 757,547 filed bv Albert E. Truelove on June 27. 194'], now Patent No. 2.500.779, issued March 14. 1950. and assigned to the assignee of the present ap lication.

It will be a parent from the above that this invention provides a means for augmenting the convectional air flow between the coolin unit and the eneral food storage compartment of a refrigerator. It will be further apparent that this air f ow is controlled by a dam er to maintain the tem erature of the eneral food storage com artment substantially constant.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof.

What I claim is:

1. In a refrigerator comprising a thermally insulated cabinet having an access opening in the front thereof and a door for said opening, a cooling unit in the upper portion of said cabinet, said cabinet having a food storage area below said cooling unit, said cooling unit having a top, a bottom, a rear, and two side walls, at least one of said walls having refrigerant passages therein, said walls of the cooling unit defining a food storage space within said cooling unit, said two side walls of the cooling unit being spaced from the corresponding walls of said cabinet, duct means in said cabinet, said duct means comprising a first duct portion having an entrance openends and containing said cooling unit, said third duct portion being closed at its lower end except for an outlet opening adjacent the rear wall of said cabinet, said outlet'opening communicating with said food storage area, and a valve in said outlet opening for controlling the flow of air therethrough.

2. The refrigerator defined in claim 1 wherein the lower end of said third duct portion is spaced from said cooling unit.

3. In a refrigerator comprising a thermally insulated cabinet having an access opening in the front thereof and a door for said opening, a cooling unit in the upper portion of said cabinet, said cabinet having a food storage area below said cooling unit, said cooling unit having a top, a bottom, a rear, and two side walls, all of said walls having refrigerant passages therein, said walls of the cooling unit defining a food storage space within said cooling unit, a door forming the front wall of said cooling unit, said top, rear, and two side walls of the cooling unit being spaced from the corresponding walls of said cabinet, and said door of the cooling unit being spaced from the door of said cabinet, duct means in said cabinet, said duct means comprising a first duct portion having an entrance opening communicating with said food storage area adjacent the side wall of the cabinet, said first duct portion being fiat and lying adjacent one side wall of said cabinet and extending upwardly, a second duct portion similar to said first duct portion, said second duct portion lying adjacent the other side wall of said cabinet, a third duct portion lying between said first and second duct portions and communicating with the upper ends of said first and second duct portions, said third duct portion extending downwardly from said upper ends and containing said cooling unit, said third duct portion being closed at its lower end except for an outlet opening adjacent the rear wall of said cabi- .net, said outlet opening communicating with said food storage area, and a valve in said outlet opening for controlling the fiow of air therethrough.

4; In a refrigerator comprising a thermallyinsulated cabinet having an access opening in the front thereof and a door for said opening, a cooling unit in the upper portion of said cabinet, said cabinet having a food storage area below said cooling unit, said cooling unit having top,

bottom, rear, and two side walls, all of said walls having refrigerant passages therein, said walls of the cooling unit defining a food storage space within said cooling unit, said top, rear, and two side walls of the cooling unit being spaced from the corresponding walls of said cabinet, a door forming the front wall of said cooling unit, the combination with said refrigerator of control means for regulating the quantity of air circulating between the cooling unit and the food storage area below the cooling unit, said means comprising a shield located at the front of the cooling unit and closing the space between the top wall of the cooling unit and the top wall of the cabinet, said shieldalso closing the space between each side wall of the cooling unit and the adjacent side wall of the cabinet, a U-shaped baffle, each of the legs of the U-shaped bafile extending into one of the spaces between one of the side walls of the cooling unit and the adjacent side wall of the cabinet, each of said lcgs being spaced from the side wall of the cooling unit and the side wall of the cabinet adjacent to said leg, the upper edge of each of said legs also being spaced from the top wall of said cabinet, each of said legs extending from said shield to the rear wall of said cabinet, the base of said U-shaped bafile being located below and spaced "from the bottom wall of said cooling unit, the front edge of said base extending to said shield, the rear portion of said U-shaped bafile having an opening adjacent the rear wall of said cabinet and a valve in said opening, said valve controlling the air flowing through said opening.

5. A refrigerator defined in the immediately preceding claim wherein the opening in the bottom of said third portion is of a length substantially equal to the length of said cooling unit.

6. The refrigerator defined in claim 4 including a thermostat operatively connected to said valve to actuate the same, said thermostat being responsive to the ambient temperature of the refrigerator.

'7. In a refrigerator comprising a thermally insulated cabinet having an access opening in the front thereof and. a door for said opening, a cooling unit in the upper portion of said cabinet, said cabinet having a food storage area below said cooling unit, said cooling unit having a top, a bottom, a rear, and two side walls, said walls of the cooling unit defining a food storage space within said cooling unit, said two side walls of the cooling unit being spaced from the corresponding walls of said cabinet, duct means in said cabinet, said duct means comprising a first duct portion having an entrance opening communicating with said food storage area adjacent the side wall of the cabinet, said first duct portion being flat and lying adjacent one side wall of said cabinet and extending upwardly, a second duct portion similar to said first duct portion, said second duct portion lying adjacent the other side of said cabinet, a third duct portion lying between said first and second duct portions and communicating with the upper ends of said first and second duct portions,'said third duct portion extending downwardly from said upper ends and containing said cooling unit, said third duct portion being closed at its lower end except for an outlet opening adjacent the rear wall of said cabinet, said outlet opening communicating with said food storage area, a valve in said outletopening for controlling the flow of air therethrough, and a thermostat operatively connected to said valve to actuate the same, said thermostat being responsive to the ambient temperature of the refrigerator.

RAYMOND E. TOBEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,479,787 Clemans Jan. 8, 1924 1,844,822 Rowledge Feb. 9, 1932 1,899,852 Chadwick Feb. 28, 1933 2,263,522 Scott Nov. 18, 1941 2,455,781 Kruck et a1. Dec. '7, 1948 

